THE DEADWOOD BEETLE

Elderly entomologist Tristan Martens finds his Dutch mother's sewing table in a New York antique shop. The discovery triggers painful memories from the Holocaust, as well as a nascent romance with the store's proprietor. David Darlow's reading is undynamic; this is a good thing because you need to concentrate on what Martens is saying in this highly personal story. Other characters--the conscientious and kind graduate student; his Jewish love, Clara; his Nazi-collaborator father--exist as he sees them. Martens himself sounds world-weary and tormented, though every so often he allows himself to hope. "Beetle" bears hearing more than once for its beautiful prose and many levels of meaning. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 02]